By Beehive Web Health Desk | 2026
A free online LGBTQ+ suicide awareness training course has been launched to help people in Liverpool and beyond hold safer, more compassionate conversations about mental health.
The course, created by the Zero Suicide Alliance in partnership with Liverpool City Council, is designed for anyone who wants to feel more confident recognising when an LGBTQ+ person may be struggling and responding with care. It brings together lived experience, community voices and clinical insight from Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and wider suicide prevention partners.
The training is available free through the Zero Suicide Alliance and is aimed at reducing one of the most common barriers in suicide prevention: the fear of saying the wrong thing and therefore saying nothing.
Free training shaped by LGBTQ+ lived experience
The LGBTQ+ Suicide Awareness Training course focuses on the specific pressures that can affect suicide risk within LGBTQ+ communities. These can include stigma, discrimination, isolation, shame and the strain of not feeling safe enough to speak openly.
Rather than treating suicide awareness as a generic script, the course uses community experience alongside professional guidance. That matters because conversations about distress can land differently depending on whether someone feels heard, respected and understood.
Dr Claire Iveson, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Associate Director for Suicide Prevention, Quality Practice and ZSA at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, said the course is part of a wider programme of free training intended to help people talk about suicide with more confidence.
She said many people worry about “saying the wrong thing” and can end up staying silent. The aim of the new course is to help people notice when someone may be struggling and “reach in with care and compassion”.
Who the course is for in Liverpool and wider communities
The training is not only for clinicians or specialist mental health workers. It is likely to be useful for friends, relatives, colleagues, volunteers, community leaders, educators, youth workers, frontline public-sector staff and anyone involved in LGBTQ+ spaces.
It may also help people who want to be more prepared before a difficult conversation happens. Suicide prevention often depends on ordinary moments: checking in, listening without judgement, asking direct but sensitive questions and helping someone connect with support.
Councillor Harry Doyle, Liverpool’s Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Culture, said LGBTQ+ people can face discrimination, stigma and other challenges that affect mental health. He said the training was co-developed with the LGBTQ+ community, with lived experience at its heart and clinical expertise supporting it.
The practical value is in confidence. A person does not need to have all the answers to make a conversation safer. They do need to listen, avoid dismissing what is being said, take signs of distress seriously and know when urgent help is needed.
Safer conversations do not replace emergency help
The training is a prevention and awareness tool, not a substitute for crisis care. If someone appears to be in immediate danger, emergency help should be sought straight away.
For less immediate situations, the course is intended to help people respond earlier and more calmly. That can include recognising changes in behaviour, making space for someone to talk, avoiding assumptions about identity or experience, and helping the person move toward trusted support.
Anne Marie Lubanski, Deputy Chief Executive and Corporate Director of Adult Care and Health at Liverpool City Council and Chair of Liverpool’s Strategic Suicide Prevention Forum, said suicide prevention is a key priority for the city. She said LGBTQ+ communities can face additional risks linked to stigma, discrimination and isolation.
She described the training as a step that combines lived experience, research and clinical expertise, with the ambition that everyone feels seen, supported and able to access help when needed.
Cheshire and Merseyside prevention partners back the course
The course also has input from wider regional suicide prevention work. Dr Rory McGill, Director of Public Health at Sefton Council and lead Director of Public Health for Cheshire and Merseyside for Suicide Prevention, said shame and stigma can stop people reaching out.
He said the training helps bring those realities forward in a sensitive and practical way, while supporting people to recognise distress and respond with compassion.
Mike Skegg, founder of The Collaborative Network CIC, also contributed to the work. He said creating safer, more inclusive environments has been central to his work in the LGBTQ+ community, and that personal loss had made the need for open conversations about mental health clearer.
The LGBTQ+ Suicide Awareness Training is now freely available through the Zero Suicide Alliance.
Source: Liverpool City Council
Source check Source trail
This article was prepared from Liverpool City Council source material and checked against the named organisations, people and stated purpose of the training.
- Confirmed the course is described as free and online.
- Checked that the Zero Suicide Alliance, Liverpool City Council and Mersey Care NHS Foundat...
- Kept the article focused on practical awareness and avoided unsupported claims about outco...
- Included a crisis-care caveat so readers do not treat training as a substitute for emergen...
- Source
- Liverpool Express
- Scope
- Liverpool
- Updated
- 2026-06-07 22:55
Source check
Report a trust issue
Send a clear signal to community moderation if the source, facts or context need review.
Comments